Deane's House

Deane's House is a newly constructed private residence in the Tremont
neighborhood of Cleveland, OH, built for Deane Malaker, its 83 year old owner.

Located amidst the densely-packed steel workers cottages, bodegas, and
boutiques of Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, this single family residence
tells onlookers just as much about its unconventional location as it does about
its eccentric owner. The site, a triangular parcel etched by the intersection
of the neighborhood's two grid systems, and the owner, a retired attorney with
a revolving furniture and art collection, serves as the impetus for the house's
conceptual framework.

To maximize the potential of the site's modest footprint, the home is
conceived as a solid volume built to the extents of the property line. Portions
of the volume are thoughtfully carved away to establish pedestrian and
vehicular lines of site, respond to the shifting building typologies of its
environs, and activate the ground plane along the street. Divided by a central
stair, the private and public spaces run from South to North, respectively, as
the building tapers in width while expanding in height.

The private space, a series of modestly sized rooms (bedrooms, utilities,
storage), occupy the deep southern half of the parcel and orient themselves
orthogonally along the W.10th Street grid system. A drive through garage
connects both streets and doubles as a workshop. Conversely, the public spaces
(kitchen, living, dining, and foyer) occupy a single room, aligning with the
Thurman Avenue grid. Both public and private are bound together (in plan) by an
elevated porch and (in elevation) by a thickened continuous canopy. Though
seemingly random when viewed within its urban context, the fenestration is
governed by functional logic when experienced internally. Large expanses of
glazing occupy the public spaces and reduce in size as they inch closer to the
private, allowing for curated placement of art and an ever-changing offering of
daylight. Sill heights are lifted only enough to maintain visual privacy from
the city sidewalk, just inches away. One window, resting quietly on the floor,
serves as an exception to this rule, allowing Deane to offer up daily thoughts
scribed on paper to passersby while they capture a limited glimpse of his
private interior.

The building's restrained material palette, exposed concrete, glass, and
steel, was the first choice of Deane as well as the architect, and allude to
both the rich history of the City and the nostalgia of the Owner. All materials
were sourced locally and selected specifically for their ability to weather
over time. The steel panels are smooth and varied along W.10th Street,
responding to the fenestration and rhythm of the street. Along Thurman Avenue,
a one-way alley lacking sidewalks and building frontage, a vertically oriented corrugated
pattern reacts to the undefined scale. Smooth cast in place concrete serves as
the podium for Deane's exterior space while CMU blocks serve as the plinth for
the polygonal structure. The weathering steel skin is lifted off the plinth
along the perimeter, giving the heavy steel structure a delicate presence at
its tapered corner. It's at this corner, where the two city grids converge and
Deane sits inside, enjoying the view.